


Escape

by notaguitarfret



Series: "They're all girlfriends" AU [41]
Category: Heathers (1988), Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, cws in authors note
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 11:55:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29716812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notaguitarfret/pseuds/notaguitarfret
Summary: Heather Chandler moves out of Heather Duke's home, but they don't go unnoticed.
Relationships: Heather Chandler/Heather Duke, Heather Chandler/Heather Duke/Heather McNamara/Veronica Sawyer, Heather Chandler/Heather McNamara, Heather Chandler/Veronica Sawyer, Heather Duke/Heather McNamara, Heather Duke/Veronica Sawyer, Heather McNamara/Veronica Sawyer
Series: "They're all girlfriends" AU [41]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1053590
Comments: 9
Kudos: 90





	Escape

**Author's Note:**

> CONTENT WARNINGS: child abuse, physical abuse, slight transphobia, misogyny

"Surprise."

Heather watched Duke stumble back from her in surprise after she stepped out from behind the car. She laughed while Duke regained her footing.

"Jesus," Duke grunted, loosening her grip on the dog lead that had Bear attached to the other end. "There was no need."

"Morning, Heather!" Mac chirped, also stepping out from behind the car.

"Yeah, morning- _AH!_ " Veronica screeched at the sight of Bear, stumbling back behind the car. "Oh, God."

"You’re still scared of Bear?" Heather asked them.

"But he’s so cute! Look at his wittle face," Mac cooed, walking up to him so she could rub his fluffy cheeks. Bear's tail wagged excitedly. "See? He’s such a good boy."

"He is very cute when he’s not near me," Veronica said, keeping their distance.

"Then you can walk far behind us. Sorry, but I have to keep going, I don"t have very long to walk him," Duke said, beginning to walk forward. The others followed, with Heather staying by her side. Mac decided to keep Veronica from being lonely by travelling at the back of the pack.

"See, that"s what I'm here for," Heather said. "Now’s my chance to grab my stuff and get out of your hair, since you’re all going shopping."

"Mhmm. You"ll have three hours tops," Duke told her, before being slightly tugged forward by Bear, whose ears were raised up slightly at the sight of a bird. She clicked her tongue at him. "Hey. _Heel._ "

Bear obeyed, slowing down until he was walking by her side. Heather giggled. "I've never understood how you walk such a massive dog."

"He’s well behaved. It"s not that hard. Now, how did last night go?”

"Oh, about as well as you'd expect." She shrugged. "I got kicked out of the family - no surprise there.”

"Did you get the money?”

"Of course I did.”

"Well, you’re all set.”

“I am.”

“How are you feeling about the whole thing?” she asked. "I know you were hesitant to leave at all.”

“I'm… mostly relieved,” she said. “Some complicated feelings here and there, and it was really difficult saying goodbye to Cindy, since she didn’t really understand what was happening.”

Duke offered a sympathetic look. “I didn’t even consider your cousins. Were they okay?”

Heather grew wistful. “I don’t really know. I didn’t get to say goodbye to them all, only Cindy,” she confessed. “I told her to tell them I loved them though. I hope they know that.” She bit the inside of her cheek anxiously. “But I don’t know what’s to become of them. I hate to be pessimistic, but they’re probably going to grow up just like the rest of my family.”

“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to find out.” She shook her head. “But nevermind that. When are your family leaving?”

“In less than an hour, I’d say. After that you’ll have enough time to move everything out. If you forget anything, I’ll just keep it safe until I next see you.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll clear your room as best as I can,” she said, holding out her hand. “House key, please?”

“Can’t do that yet, I need to get back into my house first,” she said. “But when I leave, I’ll drop my key in the plant pot next to the door. _Do not lose it,_ ” she warned dangerously. Heather held up her hands.

“Oh, Heather, when have I _ever_ lost something?”

Duke deadpanned at her. “You misplace literally everything.”

“That may be true.”

A short pause.

“...But?” Duke prompted.

“That’s all. I’ll give the key to Veronica, he’s more reliable.”

Duke just rolled her eyes, but a smile was threatening her lips. Heather felt her chest lighten at the sight; often she would forget that they were dating now. It never felt possible for them to reach such a stage. She walked a little closer, her arm brushing against Duke’s lightly.

“Thank you. For letting me stay, I mean,” she murmured. “I know I complained about it a lot, but I really appreciate what you did.”

Duke’s brows knitted, and she smiled warmly. “Well, I wasn’t just going to leave you there, was I?”

“No, and I’m thankful you didn’t.” She ruffled her hair - something she found easier to do now that it was shoulder-length. “But that being said, I’m excited to get the fuck out of there. Finally I can shower in _peace._ ”

“Finally I have more leg room in my bed,” Duke retorted. They both snickered, even though in Heather’s mind, she was going to miss that part. Every night she would be excited to sleep next to her, even before they started dating. It was just so pleasant having the company, and now that they were together, Duke would always find ways to snuggle up against her in her sleep, purring like the most peaceful cat against her chest. It almost made the stress of living there worth it, if it meant feeling the warmth of her body next to her every night, and it was sad to have to let that go. But she kept telling herself that it was worth the sacrifice, because in Mac’s house she would be free to live how she usually would, be able to walk around without fear of being caught. Besides, she’d have Mac to sleep next to at night, so it’s not like she’d be returning to being alone.

She wondered, though, if Duke felt the same way. Maybe she’d miss sleeping next to her too.

* * *

Heather, Veronica and Mac all waited in the car, far down the street where they wouldn’t be spotted. Heather sighed impatiently, waiting for her damn family to leave so she could pack her shit, while she listened to the sounds of Veronica and Mac fumbling around in the back seat with… each other. She’d happily join in, but she didn’t want to miss the Dukes’ car leaving, or she’d be waiting there forever.

“Holy shit, you both sound like you’re trying to trample as much car-floor as you can reach,” Heather grunted, glancing in the mirror, though it wasn’t much use.

“Well we can’t make out in the seat! We’re in broad daylight!” Mac protested.

“Trust me, it’s not comfortable down here,” Veronica added. Heather was about to reply, when she saw a family of four walking down the pathway of Duke’s house, down to the car. She watched them hop in, until they finally drove off. She sighed in relief, starting up her car and driving closer to the house.

“Okay, sucking face session over, now help me move my shit out.” She snapped her fingers to break them up, which they immediately did, shooting back up onto their feet with ruffled hair and slightly smudge lipstick. They tried to smooth themselves out, but it was very little use. Heather just rolled her eyes fondly and stepped out of the car, hurrying up to Duke’s house cautiously. She searched the plant pot, groaning when she caught soil under her long nails, until she found the key hiding under a leaf. She unlocked the door and hurried inside.

“Wait,” Veronica paused at the doorway. “Where’s Bear?”

“Um…” Heather opened the living room door and spotted the huge dog on the couch, who seemed to have been sleeping, until he heard the door open again. He barked, but it wasn’t ferocious, as evident by his wagging tail. “Hi, boy. It’s only me. I’m just getting my stuff, okay?”

He barked again, but lowered his head back onto his paws. “Good boy,” she praised, before closing the door again. “It’s okay, he’s in there.”

“Okay.” Veronica closed the door behind them, and the trio moved up the stairs and into Heather’s room.

“Oh, Heather, the moment you’ve been waiting for,” Heather said, hurrying over to her cockroaches’ tank. “Here they are.”

“Oh! Oh I’ve been _dying_ to see these,” she gasped, her hands flapping excitedly. She stopped next to her and peered in the tank. She couldn’t spot them at first, so Heather pointed to the dark brown bodies hiding under some leaves. “Oh my gosh! They’re so cute!”

“ _Cute_ is the word we’re using?” Veronica asked, coming to stand by Heather’s other side.

“ _Yes,_ Veronica, do you have a problem with that?” Heather huffed haughtily. Veronica just held their hands up defensively, backing away to go and open the closet door, while Mac continued to stare at the enclosure with fascination. 

“What are their names again?”

“Peanut Butter and Almond Butter.”

“That’s so cute!” Her hands flapped more, which warmed Heather’s heart. She knew she wouldn’t find many people who would appreciate her pets as much as she did, so it felt nice to finally have someone who would indulge her, and even get excited with her. “Can I hold them-?”

“Okay, I know new pets are exciting, but we don’t know how long we have,” Veronica told them both. “If Heather’s family come home from shopping early, we’re fucked. We should get out of here as soon as we can.”

Heather sighed. “They’re right. Let’s gather everything together.”

Mac pouted disappointedly, but she didn’t argue. The three of them quickly got to work, pulling out Heather’s belongings one by one. She hadn’t unpacked a lot of it - only clothes and makeup and other things for hygiene. Books and sewing equipment had stayed in their boxes, so it wouldn’t take anywhere near as much time to pack things as it did last time.

“So, should we make a chain down the house, or should all three of us grab things and go down at once? What would be quicker?” she discussed.

“Probably would be quicker to take three things down at a time,” Veronica said, folding Heather’s clothes tightly so she could return them into their suitcase. Once her makeup had been stored away, she went over to them to speed up the process, while Mac pushed everything that was ready to go towards the door to their bedroom. Not too much time passed until everything she could possibly think of was gathered.

"Okay, let's see, that's all my clothes, hairbrush, makeup…" She had to stare at each pile for a long time, knowing it was just like her to completely forget about something if she wasn't looking at it. Though it wouldn't be a huge disaster to forget something, she would rather move everything out all at once to save the hassle. "School work, textbooks… yeah, I think that's everything." She turned to the desk and grabbed the only thing they hadn’t moved. Cockroach tank in hand, she moved out. “Okay, grab as much as you can, then we’ll come back up for the rest.”

There was a small problem in that last time she had packed her stuff, she had two cars available so she didn’t have to worry about having to squeeze everything in the boot. Now she only had her car as well as two in need of a ride, so it would be a tight squeeze.

She decided to simply put her loose clothes on the floor and everything else wherever it could fit. Bags were piled onto one another, and Veronica wasn’t entirely comfortable having to crowd with all of her belongings in the back seat, but Mac was pretty happy holding the cockroach tank in the passenger seat in the front. She kept holding the crate up to her eye level, her feet kicking the bag in front of them excitedly whenever she sat an antenna twitch. It was a good thing all that was in that bag were cushions and pillow cases.

“We definitely have everything?” Heather asked, looking around her car. Veronica and Mac gave a nod.

“This seems like everything,” Mac said.

“Yeah, it _really_ does,” added Veronica who was shoving the tower of belongings away from them. “How did you both get all of this in the house unnoticed the first time?”

“Nobody was home, also we didn’t move it all in at once.” She checked the road forward, and then through her mirrors. “Okay, no one’s around.” She started up her car quickly and moved out fast, watching Duke’s house shrink in her mirror the further away she got. She felt the adrenaline that had kicked in cautiously fade, knowing that they were out of danger, but confused as to why they never faced any danger to begin with.

“That felt way too easy,” Heather grunted, looking around frantically, even after they left the street. “Were we definitely not caught?”

“Nope.”

“I don’t think so!”

“Hm. Weird.”

“Hey, take the good luck whenever you can get it.” Veronica leaned forward and patted her shoulder. “It’s not often things go so smoothly.”

“I suppose.”

The drive to Mac’s was quick. Little traffic got in their way this early on a Saturday, and before she knew it, she was at her destination. Free at last, free from her parents, free from Heather’s parents, free to go to the fucking bathroom without looking left and right in the hallway. Letting out a big sigh of relief, so much built up tension leaving her body, Heather grabbed her tank back, though not before promising Mac could have a much closer look once she was inside, and though Mac clearly missed looking at her little pets, she grabbed as many belongings as she could hold, as did Veronica. Notably Mac was carrying a lot more with little struggle, and Heather could only imagine her muscles were flexing under her bright yellow sleeves as she carried all those bags to the door.

Mac opened the door for them, dropping her stuff just by the door upon spotting some envelopes on the floor.

“Ooh, that’s new,” she commented, leaning down to pick up a letter that was sitting on the floor. She flipped it over a few times. “Not for me, but it’s handwritten. That’s interesting. I wonder what it-”

“Oh, Heather, that’s mine.” Appearing out of a room suddenly was Mac’s father, who swiftly made his way over to her and grabbed the letter out of her hand. She gave him a confused look, but didn’t press on, just watched him curiously as he hid it under his blazer. Heather was suspicious too - he seemed a little too eager to hide whatever letter it was from her. It’s not like it was a letter from the bank, or the writing on the back wouldn’t have been so curly and neat, almost like it wasn’t there to be read, only to look pretty.

Still, Heather wasn’t about to interrogate the man letting her live in his house for free.

“Oh, are you moving in now, then?” he asked, glancing between Mac and Heather. Mac nodded.

“If that’s alright?”

“Sure. Get her settled and whatnot.” He patted his blazer, where the letter was likely sitting, probably making sure it had stayed put. “It’ll be like old times.”

“Exactly!” Mac chirped happily, but her father had already turned around and left. She frowned, and as soon as he was out of earshot, she looked at Heather and Veronica. “See, this is what I was talking about when I said he was acting weird,” she whispered.

“He is?” Veronica asked cluelessly, having not been around for their late night conversation about this.

“A little,” Heather said with a shrug. “But I don’t think it’s anything to worry about.” She led the two of them towards the stairs, while Mac gave an unsure grunt.

“But what was that letter? It looked _fancy,_ ” she pondered.

“Like I said, maybe he finally found someone,” Heather said. “He can stop moping over your mother ditching you now.”

Heather looked a little distressed as she dropped everything at the foot of the stairs. “Even if he did, I don’t know how I’d deal with that,” she admitted. “I know it sounds mean, not wanting him to find somebody else, but having a new mother figure in my life would be… really difficult to process.”

“Why’s that?” asked Veronica, also dropping their stuff next to where Mac had left hers.

“Because her last mother figure was the _worst._ Keep up, Veronica,” Heather huffed. Veronica held their hands up defensively.

“Hey, I’ve yet to hear what her mom even did!”

“It wasn’t any specific thing,” Mac explained. “It was many awful things that would take too long to list.”

“Right. Okay, so it’s fair to be nervous around possible mother figures then,” Veronica said. “Maybe it’ll take some getting used to, but it sounds like the bar’s already on the floor. If you do get somebody new in your home - which you don’t even know for sure yet - she’ll be nowhere near as bad as the last one.”

“I suppose. I’m just used to the routine of… not worrying about this.”

“Well, don’t worry about it. If he gets a girlfriend, it’ll probably be short lived.” She took a few steps up the stairs. “But possible family issues aside, how are we doing this?”

“Hm?” Mac blinked at her.

“As in, are we all getting things at once and running up and down the stairs together, or…?”

“Can we _please_ make a chain for this?” Veronica asked. “Carrying your belongings down the stairs was fine, but _up_ the stairs sounds awful.”

“Same here. Not it.”

“Not it.”

“Mac’s it.”

Mac whipped her head back and forth between the two of them. “What?”

“You’re taking my stuff up the stairs.”

“Wow. Rude.” She folded her arms. “But it makes sense. It’ll give me a good work out.”

“See, now I feel less bad,” Heather said with a grin.

“You never felt bad,” Veronica pointed out.

“That’s for me to know.” She continued her journey up the stairs. “Okay, Mac, you bring the stuff to the top of the stairs, I’ll take it to my room, Veronica you bring everything from the car.”

They both gave her a thumbs up, and got to work. As it turns out, moving all her stuff down to her new room, which was just one of the empty guest rooms (not that she’d be spending much time in them) was a lot more work than she thought. Though moving her stuff out didn’t take long, moving her stuff in would likely take up their whole afternoon, she thought as she watched the pile in the middle of the room grow until there was nothing else to bring.

And it did. Pulling clothes off of hangers takes so much less time than putting them on and organising them nicely. There wasn’t a vanity in this room either, just a mirror on the wall, so Heather decided to put her makeup in Mac’s room while she places her photos and other valuables on all the surfaces she could find. It didn’t feel like home - the walls were a yellow and white diamond pattern, something she would never pick, and her carpet was plain white, but she didn’t feel dread standing there. She knew she’d only use this room for a few things, like homework or sleeping. That last one she wasn’t too sure about though - it wasn’t like Heather’s father was particularly invasive, he likely wouldn’t catch them sleeping in the same bed.

Once everything was arranged well enough for her to be satisfied, she walked over to Mac’s bed and collapsed onto it, letting out a huge sigh of relief. A hand tangled itself in her hair, causing tingles to run down her spine as it stroked her scalp.

“So, how are you feeling?” Veronica asked, running their hand through her hair. Heather blinked open an eye to glimpse at them sitting next to her on the mattress, before closing it again.

“I feel free,” she sighed. “No more shitty parents, no more having to lock myself in a room for one reason or another.” She rolled over to curl up against Veronica’s thigh. “It’s weird and I’m not used to it, but it feels better, and that’s all I care about.”

“Now we can have a permanent sleepover!” Mac chirped happily, leaping onto the bed and causing it to bounce. Heather sat up,

“Not in a gay way though,” she said. Mac looked devastated.

“But that was the whole point!”

“I’m joking.” She pounced on her and they rolled across the bed until Mac was pinned underneath her. Mac blinked up at her in surprise, before a determined look struck her face and she flipped her over with ease.

“Hey!” Heather pouted at her. “Is this how you treat your guest of honor-” She was cut off with a kiss pressed against her lips, which she immediately melted into. When they parted, Veronica crawled up next to her and nuzzled into her neck. Mac dropped onto her other side and wrapped her arms around hers.

“This feels far too easy,” Heather mused. “I would have thought something awful would have happened.”

“Like what?” Mac asked.

“Don’t know. Being caught? Some sort of disaster.”

“Hey, just be glad things went to plan,” Veronica told her, resting their cheek on her chest.

“I feel like every time something good happens, something bad immediately follows.”

“That’s just life, Heather,” said Veronica. “Good things happen, bad things happen, then something good happens again. It’s not fate that something bad’s going to happen, if that’s what you’re thinking. Bad things will happen regardless of what good things happen.”

“I didn’t ask for a philosophy lesson.”

Veronica chuckled, pressing themself against her as much as they could. “Even so, are you relieved?”

“Very,” she murmured as her eyes closed. “I’d like to hide away from the world now.”

“Is that so?”

“I’ve been through a lot, Sawyer, can you blame me?”

Veronica hummed thoughtfully, before the pressure on Heather’s chest left. She frowned, making grabby hands with her free arm, but was met with empty air. The easy thing to do would be to open her eyes and check what they were doing, but the light breathing against her neck and the tight grip on her other arm prevented her from doing so much as lifting her head. She hummed contentedly against Mac, feeling warm and safe next to her as if she were a fireplace flickering in a freezing blizzard, while rustling and footsteps drifted around the room. Heather was curious as to what Veronica was doing, and by the time she finally looked up, she saw that they had created an odd formation at the foot of the bed. Reluctantly she left Mac’s side, despite her protesting grunts, to get a better look at it. They had placed Mac’s bean bag in front of the bed, leaving about a meter’s space, with a blanket hooked over it and the edge of the bed. On the bed it was weighed down by some pillows and other small objects. Underneath the makeshift roof was a bunch of pillows on the floor, and Veronica lying against the beanbag, smiling up at Heather.

“Isn’t that what you make these for?” they asked. “To hide away from the world?”

Heather felt her heart flutter. “You remembered?”

“Sure,” they replied. “Isn’t one of these where we got together?”

“Pillow fort!” Mac exclaimed behind her, cutting off any response she may have had. She dove underneath the roof and curled up next to Veronica, who gladly spooned her from behind. Mac reached her hands forward, ready to grab Heather and pull her close. The whole thing was childish, something she never thought she’d do with her partners, and perhaps if she’d taken the road her parents wanted her to take and found the richest, handsomest guy to settle with, she wouldn’t.

But she had something a lot better, which was being able to fall asleep with two of her partners in a homemade pillow fort, despite all of them being so close to adulthood. It didn’t matter, because Heather was content lying there, drifting off to sleep without her worries plaguing her thoughts.

“ _Hey, wait!_ ” Mac suddenly exclaimed, making both her and Veronica jump. “Heather, I forgot to hold your cockroaches!” She rolled on top of her excitedly. “If I can. Can I hold them? Do they fly? Do I need to wash my hands?”

Heather chuckled, tipping her off of her. “Yes, you can hold them. Right now. No, they don’t fly.”

Veronica’s face shrivelled up in disgust. “Euch, I think I’ll stay in here, thanks.”

“Sure thing. Not everyone has taste,” Heather huffed as she crawled back out of the fort, Mac following close behind. She had _insisted_ the cockroaches be in her room, having wanted to look at them as much as she could, and insisting that if they stayed in the guest room, they would get lonely. Because of course, Heather wouldn’t be spending much time there.

Heather opened up the tank and grabbed Peanut. Mac, with a big grin and jittering with joy, held out her hands. She placed the bug into her palm and she squealed.

“Which one’s this?” she asked.

“Peanut Butter. Almond Butter is _grounded_ after her escape mission the other day.”

From the pillow fort, Veronica’s head poked out. “How can you tell who’s who? Don’t they look the same?”

“Maybe to you, from a distance. But if you look closely-” she came to stand next to Mac and moved her palms up to her face. “Males have more rigid heads. Almond’s a female, so she has a smooth one.”

“That’s amazing!” She tipped him into just one hand. “You said they’re hissing cockroaches, right? Do they actually hiss?”

Heather smiled, taking her spare hand and pointing one finger out, stroking Peanut’s back with it gently. Each time her finger touched his back, he let out a faint hiss. Mac gasped.

“That’s _so cool._ ”

“I know. I’m glad _someone appreciates them,_ ” she quipped, shooting a glare at Veronica.

“I _am_ appreciating them! From a distance,” they replied. Heather rolled her eyes.

“Well, since both ‘Ronica and Heather are being complete and utter pillowcases about them, _we_ can be their parents.”

Mac’s eyes widened with wonder. “Me? Really?”

“Of course.” She gave her a peck on the cheek. “We’ll be wonderful parents.”

* * *

Heather was already beginning to miss the added clutter that had been in her room.

Keep in mind, she _hated_ clutter with the passion, she hated things not being organised, she hated inconsistencies. Ever since Chandler had moved in, she’d even started to realise that some things she did wasn’t normal, like flicking switches several times before turning them off. She wasn’t sure why she did it, she was just so sure if she didn’t, she wouldn’t be convinced the power was actually off, and if the power wasn’t off, a fire would start and burn the house down, and it would all be her fault.

 _“You mean you never get paranoid like that?”_ she had asked. Chandler just stared at her, completely dumbfounded.

_“No? If a switch looks off, then that’s good enough for me. I don’t have to check it more than once. I don’t have to check it at all.”_

Heather kept meaning to bring it up with her therapist, but she had forgotten last time. Next week she would, for sure.

Now Chandler wasn’t here to comment on her weird behaviours that she did in private. She’d gotten used to coming home to her waiting for her on her bed, busy reading a random book she found in her room somewhere. She’d make a snide remark about how _boring_ some of her tastes in literature was, but Heather never truly minded, because she always did it with an underlying smile. Ever since they had gotten together, she had been able to sit next to her and sink into the mattress. Admittedly, their relationship had been more awkward than she had expected it to be. It was like neither of them actually knew how to act around one another. Kisses were brief and physical contact was a little nerve-wracking, but it was nice regardless. She’d enjoyed curling up to her in bed, falling asleep on her chest. Sometimes it was the other way around, because in Chandler’s words,

_“The bigger the tit, the softer the pillow.”_

Good to know that she thought her tits were big.

Heather let out a sigh, sitting on the edge of her bed. Her room felt empty now. Clean, tidy, organised, and empty. She wouldn’t miss hiding Heather from her family, but she would miss the company dearly, even if she would see her every day.

The only company she had that was trapped in her room now was Bubblez, who was bus chomping away at the food he had only just been given. It was nice watching the pale, smiling creature swim around, but she was actually starting to wish that she could hold him. Sure, he wasn’t a fish, but axolotls weren’t made to be held. He seemed like the ideal pet, and he was, but lately Heather had started to embrace… being embraced.

She wasn’t sure what her deal was with physical contact. She liked it, but she was intimidated by it. She was used to not having it, and every time she hugged someone, even if that someone was a partner she was dating, she felt like she was overstepping a boundary they never laid down. So she didn’t do it, until lately.

Now she missed it. She grabbed a pillow that Chandler had liked to lean on and buried her nose in it as she held it close. Her perfume clung on. She could have rolled her eyes at herself for being so clingy, but she couldn’t help but feel alone.

Regardless of what she felt, Heather was safer at Emmy’s house. She would be a lot more free and at no risk of being kicked out, so it was far better for her. And better for herself, too. Hunter had a nasty habit of barging into her room unannounced, so she’d been putting heavy things in front of her door to give them both some warning before he did it. She might keep doing that, actually.

Letting out a long sigh, she fell backwards onto her bed. It was late in the evening, after a long day of forced family time. She wasn’t sure why her parents were so adamant in acting like a happy family all the time when they so obviously weren’t, but it was better than arguing all the time, not that arguments never broke out, particularly between her and her mother. She knew where she got her stubbornness from, it was from the very woman who birthed her. Her coldness, on the other hand, was probably from her father, but he had always been so much colder. That was probably why she never bothered arguing with him. He had the whole house in his palm - the only person who would dare argue with him was Hayden, all because he was following in his footsteps. Her brothers _loved_ to suck up to toxic masculinity, and she blamed her father whole-heartedly. It made her happy she was trans - if she had lived her life as a boy, she would be the absolute worst.

It was odd, having gotten away with keeping Heather here for two weeks. She was so sure she’d be caught and that she’d have to lay her life on the train tracks to keep her in the house. Her parents _hated_ Heather. She was seen as a bad influence, a ‘you could be this’, if you will. They could tell she was a rebellious child, perhaps from the amount of times they had picked her up from parties when she was only fifteen years old and seeing her black-out drunk. If they found out Heather was keeping her in their house without their permission, she’d be as good as roadkill.

But they had miraculously done it, albeit with a lot of stress. And she had appeared to have escaped unnoticed, too. Heather was relieved about that.

She still had a big portion of her evening left, all of it she had planned on being alone time, but all she really wanted to do was fall asleep there and then. She hadn’t eaten that much today, maybe that’s why she was so exhausted. But at least it was her time, that wouldn’t be interrupted-

_“Heather!”_

She groaned out loud. Never get your hopes up in this house. Her family was built to tear them down and replace them with what they thought was best.

“Yeah?” she called back, making sure irritation could be heard in her tone.

 _“Living room, now.”_ Her mother sounded blunt and not at all pleased. Not that she was pleased very often, but it still wasn’t a good sign. She grimaced, wondering what chore she forgot to do this time. It better not be anything that takes more than ten minutes.

“Alright.” She forced herself on her feet and hurried downstairs, where both of her parents were waiting for her, sitting on the couch with an unimpressed expression adorning their faces. Again, not a good sign. She hesitantly walked towards them, stopping a few feet away and keeping the coffee table between them. “Yes?”

“I just had a chat with our neighbours,” her mother began, sipping some tea from her mug. She was calm, and yet she was steaming. “They said they saw some suspicious activity in our house while we were out.”

 _Oh no._ Heather never thought her neighbours would get involved. This was such a quiet road, she didn’t think they would bother sticking their noses in anyone else’s business.

“They said they thought it was a home invasion - three people were walking in and out the house,” she continued. “And so I asked, why not call the police?”

“Yeah, why not?” Heather asked, acting dumb. “Is any of our stuff gone?”

“Let me finish,” she scolded, and Heather shut her mouth. “She said she didn’t call the police because she recognised them. Three girls, all of them who they’ve seen hanging around with our daughter.”

 _Shit._ She furrowed her brow in confusion, sweating under the gaze of her father that was only growing more deadly by the moment. “So, Heather, Heather and Veronica? Maybe they were looking for me and realised I wasn’t home.”

“No, that’s not it,” said her mother, placing her tea back on her saucer, and then placing the saucer on the coffee table. “Because they said that they walked through the front door, as if it were unlocked. You locked the door, didn’t you, darling?”

Her father nodded, his eyes cold. Heather willed herself to look away.

“And just to add onto all of that, they told us they saw them moving out several bags of belongings, almost like someone was moving house.” Her mother squinted at her. “How do you suppose we explain that, Heather?”

“I…” Heather was trying desperately to think of a way to weasel her way out of this one. Should she play dumb? Think up a lie? Come clean? No, she couldn’t come clean. Her parents would kill her. But what lie could she possibly come up with that would be convincing? She couldn’t play dumb, her parents would just accuse her of lying.

“We’re waiting, Heather,” her father warned, making her heart race. She realised that in those short moments, she only had one true option.

“Hear me out,” she began, knowing full well that they wouldn’t. “I promise, I was just trying to do a nice thing, it wasn’t a permanent solution, but I let Heather live with us.”

“ _Us?_ ” her mother echoed. She winced.

“Me,” she corrected. “She lived… with me. In my room.”

“For _how long?_ ”

“Just two weeks!” she exclaimed. “Two weeks, I promise. She’s not living there anymore, that’s what our neighbours saw! She moved out today.”

Her parents looked as though they would explode at any moment. “You kept her in this house, in _secret?_ ” her mother berated.

“Which Heather is this?” her father questioned. “It better not be-”

“Chandler,” she confessed. “I know, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have hidden her here, but… she’s been having problems at home, she needed a place to stay, and I was her only option.”

“You didn’t even ask us,” her mother chided. Heather frowned.

“Of course I didn’t. You would have never said yes.”

“If you knew that, then you shouldn’t have done it at all, rather than go behind our backs and let someone _squat_ here in secret,” her father hissed.

“She wasn’t squatting!” she argued. “It was just… an extended sleepover. That you didn’t know about.”

“You _know_ this is unacceptable,” her father growled. “How dare you keep secrets like this?”

“Quite easily,” she muttered under her breath, not expecting her parents to hear.

“Excuse me?” Her mother leaned forward. She cringed.

“What was I _meant_ to do? Leave her in a shitty household?” she snapped. “I’m _sorry_ I kept secrets from you, but it was for her sake, not mine! You think I _liked_ hiding her in this house? Because I didn’t! I knew you would both hate it, but I couldn’t leave her there!”

“What’s going on in her house is none of our concern,” her father huffed dismissively. “She likely caused her own problems - she should have to deal with them herself rather than leeching off of her friends' families.”

Heather gaped at him. “She didn’t cause her own problems! And even if she _did,_ nobody should feel unsafe in their own house. I did what I had to - I kept her safe.” She snarled. “Just because she looks like a daughter you couldn’t handle doesn’t mean you should resent her for needing a place to stay.”

“I’m sorry?”

She couldn’t believe she’d gotten this far, running her mouth in front of her father, but she wasn’t about to apologise for keeping Heather safe.

“I’m saying, just because you don’t like her, doesn’t mean you should deny her a place to sta-”

“No, no, I think you should go back to that other thing.” Her father stood up, which made her stumble backwards and even made her mother shuffle further down the couch. “What’s that about not being able to handle her, hm?”

She hesitated. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to go down that rabbit hole.

But at the same time, she knew she couldn’t turn back at this point.

“I’m saying that you don’t like Heather because she’s rebellious and hard to control,” she stammered, but kept a fierce expression. “That isn’t something either of you like. You _love_ controlling your kids as much as you can. It’s why you got a dog instead of a cat - they’re much easier to train.”

Her father looked slightly taken aback, before his gaze turned dangerously dark. Heather was sure she made a mistake.

“We’re not _controlling,_ you just don’t know any better,” he growled. “You love to think you have your whole life planned out, but you’re not as smart as you think, Heather. Quit acting like you are.” Had the coffee table not been in his way, he likely would have leaned forward and pressed a finger against her chest. “You’re still a child. You’re going to make childish decisions, for example, hiding your friend in your room, apparently.” He scoffed, astonished. “I know you like to be secretive, but I never thought you would have gone that far.”

“I’m not secretive,” she muttered. “You just don’t like me having boundaries, so I don’t tell you anything.”

“That’s not-”

“Why do you think I didn’t tell you I was bulimic?” she sneered bitterly. “I knew you would both try and fix it in your own special way. All it’s ever done is make me feel worse. Sorry that me having eating problems is so distressing to you both though, must be _real_ hard for you.”

“Heather, you cut it out right now-”

“No! No I won’t, because that’s exactly what I’m talking about! You can’t even handle being told you’ve done something wrong, so you shut me up and plug your ears.”

“Because you do not know what is _best_ for you, Heather,” her father yelled, tone threatening. He leaned forward to leer at her, freezing her in place so she couldn’t argue back. “You’re not the man of the house, and you never will be. You made that decision when you decided to become a girl, so do yourself a favour and stop trying to make all the decisions around here.”

“Oh, is that it, then?” Heather crossed her arms. “You’re telling me if Hunter or Hayden had hidden one of their friends in the house, you’d give them a slap on the wrist and send them on their way? But when _I_ do something rebellious, when _I_ keep secrets and when _I_ try and do things for myself, suddenly it’s the worst thing you can imagine? You just have to give me a lecture on how much of a stubborn brat I am because you just _hate_ it when I gain a smidge of independence.”

“When you’re _act_ like a brat, we’re going to treat you like one.”

“I’m not a brat!” she spat. “You just hate that I don’t like you holding my hand through my life all the time. But guess what, it’s _my_ life, if I needed you, I’d fucking ask you.”

“Watch your _tongue,_ Heather-” her father warned as her mother spoke up again,

“And that’s a straight up _lie,_ ” she snarled. “You never told us you were throwing up your food. We had a to get a call from the doctor for that.”

“Yeah, and when you did, you _grounded_ me and forced me to eat every meal you gave me!” Her stomach churned at the thought. “Thanks for that, mom! It’s made me feel _so_ much better-”

“So you’re mad at us for getting you to _eat_ now?”

“I’m mad at you for _never understanding me!_ ” She stomped her foot in frustration. She wasn’t sure why she was trying, this was like talking to a wall that would eventually just fall over and crush her to death. “Perhaps if you ever showed a lick of sympathy towards me in your goddamn lives, I’d have felt comfortable telling you I was struggling. I wouldn’t have to keep so much from you, I would have actually asked you to let Heather stay here.”

“You _can_ tell us anything, Heather-”

“I can’t! Not without you grounding me, punishing me, belittling me for the crime of having _problems_ in my life, because I know you’ll blame me for having them.” She swallowed her tears, not wanting to cry in front of her parents. They’d see it as a weakness, for sure. “Even if whatever it is _was_ my fault, you think I’m not already aware of it? I don’t need to hear about all the things I did wrong, I just need some sort of _support,_ or… or _something._ ” She curled her lip and looked away. “You’re as bad as Heather’s parents.”

Her father didn’t like that. He stepped around the coffee table just to get right in her face. She wanted to step backwards, but she knew she couldn’t, not without him following.

“Is that so?” His glower grew dark. “Well then, if Heather needed to leave her home so much, then why don’t you do the same? Since we’re so _awful_ to you.”

Heather froze. “No, that’s not what I-”

“Since you never learned to be _grateful_ that we put a roof over your head, how about you leave that roof, hm?”

“That’s not what I’m saying!”

“Then what _are_ you saying?”

“I’m saying rather than kicking me out of your lives, you should actually put some fucking effort into being decent parents for once-!”

She barely finished her sentence when a sharp pain sliced through the side of her face. A cry escaped her mouth and she shut her eyes, trying to process what had just happened. She reached up to press her fingers against her cheek, feeling it sting when she did so. She winced, taking her hand away, and looked back up at her father through a tearful gaze. She stopped trying to look strong for him, in hopes that she’d find a scrap of regret by looking forlorn and pathetic.

_You just hit me._

But she found nothing of the sort. He was still as angry as he was before, only now he seemed to have relax a little, having found a way to silence her. The only sympathy being given to her was from her fucking dog, who, in the corner of the room on his bed, had lifted his head and started growling, sensing something was wrong.

If she spoke up, would he do it again?

She didn’t stick around to find out. She ducked under his arm and darted out the room, rushing up the stairs with her heart beating as fear made her stomach begin to churn. She was too scared to turn around, expecting him to be standing there, ready to swing at her again for daring to leave the conversation on her own accord, so she made sure to close the door behind her. Not that it locked - her parents didn’t believe in locks for their children’s bedrooms, and she wondered if this was why. So they could walk in and punish her at any moment.

She grabbed two bags - one full of her school stuff, the other for other various things. She didn’t think too hard about what she threw in there - a few clothes, some makeup, some deodorant, her diary she took to therapy. It didn’t need to be much, just enough to last her a couple of nights. That’s all she needed, then this whole mess would be forgotten.

She ran out the door, vaguely hearing her parents bickering in the living room as she ran past it, and drove her car to the only place she could think of in a sloppy outfit she would never be caught dead wearing in school.

After bumping a few curbs with her car due to her gaze being blurred by tears, she finally reached her destination and wiped them away quickly. She dared to glance in the mirror of her car; she looked a mess, her eyes were red and there was a bruise forming just by her eye. She tore her gaze away. She’d for sure be questioned about it, but she didn’t have to answer.

She got out of the car with just the one bag, the one with her essentials in it, and walked up to the large door and knocked. It took awhile for someone to answer, probably because it took forever to walk through the entirety of the house, but the door did eventually open.

On the other side was Emmy, with dollar bills in her hand.

“That was quick- oh.” That hand dropped when she saw her. “Heather! Hey! What are you doing here?”

“Is pizza here?” Inside the house, she heard Chandler call. “Oh my God, Veronica, what are you doing?”

“Sliding down the banister.”

“Don’t you _dare,_ you might fall and break your neck-”

“Too late! Weeeeeeee!” There was a small thump, but no cracking of bone. “Oof. See? I am fine.”

“One day you won’t be.”

The more pairs of footsteps grew closer to the door, and it grew wider to reveal both Chandler and Veronica. Their faces lit up when they saw her, and she wanted to do the same, but she felt like smiling would be incredibly disingenuous.

“Hey Heather!” Veronica greeted happily, waving. “See, I told you both we should have called her over.”

“I assumed she was busy! She’s always either stolen by her family or she’s studying on Saturdays. Unless there’s a party, in which case she switches all of that to Sunday,” Emmy explained. While she did that, Chandler pulled her in eagerly.

“You came just in time for a pizza night,” she said. “Or, maybe a little bit late, since we already ordered everything, but you can share.”

Food was the _last_ thing Heather wanted to touch right now. She wasn’t sure if she could even stomach the smell of it.

“I’m okay,” she said in an emotionless tone. “I’ve eaten already.”

That seemed to catch her attention. She looked at her up and down, then let her gaze linger on her face for longer. Her smile dropped upon seeing her eyes, which were likely still red from tears, and when they flickered a little to the left, she knew she had caught sight of the mark on her cheek. She opened her mouth, looking ready to interrogate her, but luckily a completely oblivious Emmy pulled her further in the house.

“You all go upstairs, I’ll keep a look out for pizza.” She gestured for them to go back to the stairs. Heather took that opportunity to escape whatever questions Chandler planned on asking and followed Veronica up, who was also completely oblivious. For now. They’d likely catch on something was wrong too, less Chandler just tells them.

“I’ll have to make the pillow fort bigger,” they mused. “I already expanded it so we could play a drinking game though, so there might be enough room for four people!”

So they were all tipsy. Perhaps no one would question her.

But by how Chandler kept on speeding up to walk beside her, looking like she wanted to say something, she was sure that wasn’t true.

At the foot of Emmy’s bed, a large pillow fort sat, ready. The blanket acting as the roof was held up by two chairs and the bed, and inside the floor was made out of pillows and more blankets, as well as the beanbag chair. Emmy’s duvet had also been bunched up inside, formed like a curved spine of a couch. Maybe that would make her feel safe, being curled up in there, with her partners.

“You want a drink? I was gonna get some anyway,” Veronica offered. Heather shrugged.

“I’ll have whatever.”

Veronica gave a thumbs up and skipped off back down the stairs, which left her alone with Chandler. She barely looked at her, even though she could tell Chandler was staring.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, stepping closer. Heather couldn’t bring herself to answer. She didn’t want to repeat what had happened, in hopes that in a few days, it wouldn’t matter at all. Maybe everyone in her family would move past it and forget it ever happened, so there was no use making a big deal out of it. She dropped her bag and shoes by Emmy’s nightstand and crawled into the fort, finding Emmy’s weighted blanket bunched up by the bed. She wordlessly took it and placed it over her legs, the pressure welcome, while Chandler crawled in to sit next to her.

“Heather,” she prodded. Heather kept her head down. Her face still ached.

“Heather, please, I can tell something’s the matter-”

“Is tequila okay?” Veronica interrupted, sliding into the fort with several bottles and glasses in hand. Heather silently nodded, taking a glass and immediately pouring the drink into it. There were other options too - beer and vodka, most notably, which she would likely end up drinking too. “Can you believe Heather willingly put _pineapple_ on her pizza?” She shot Chandler a look, who scoffed.

“It’s sweet and savoury. Nothing wrong with that.”

“But pizza is _all about_ the savoury.”

“Well, do me a favour and keep your three cheese pizza away from Mac. She can and _will_ try and have a slice, and it’ll just be bad for her stomach.”

“Why’s that?”

“She’s lactose intolerant.”

“She is?”

“Yes, I know, you can hardly tell. She doesn’t particularly care.” She glimpsed at Heather and frowned. “So, what brings you here, Heather?”

“Am I not allowed to pay any of you a visit?”

It came out more bitter than she intended, and she immediately regretted it, but neither of them seem offended. Instead, it just seemed to wake Veronica up a little and notice that she wasn’t entirely okay. She sighed, expecting them to lure the truth out of her, but instead, the two of them just crawled over to her, Veronica on one side and Heather on the other. Veronica just happily grabbed their glass and poured themselves a drink of their own, mixing it with some lemonade and made Heather feel less alone in drinking her problems away. Meanwhile, Chandler just huddled under the blanket and pressed herself against her, locking her fingers with her spare hand. It was a silent plea, one that told her,

_“Please tell me soon.”_

Heather squeezed her hand, as if to tell her, _“Not right now.”_

“Pizza’s here!” Emmy loudly announced, crouching down at the entrance to the fort. In her hands was three pizzas stacked on one another, along with one smaller pizza box and two thicker but smaller boxes. She handed them all out after checking which one was which, and while the savoury smell did make Heather’s stomach growl, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to risk eating anything right now.

Veronica had a three cheese pizza, as they had mentioned, while Chandler had a Hawaiian. Emmy had gone for BBQ chicken, which was actually one of Heather’s favourites, but she didn’t let herself ask for a slice. Emmy had also bought some mozzarella sticks, against her better judgement, and Chandler had a cherry cheesecake for dessert. There was also garlic pizza bread to share.

“Why have you all stolen my weighted blanket?” Emmy huffed indignantly.

“Heather needs it,” Chandler replied simply, unfolding the blanket. “Just come sit here.” She gestured to her lap, which Emmy seemed very eager about, and happily dragged her pizza over to place it next to Chandler’s and got comfortable between her legs, before Chandler threw the blanket back over them both. Before Emmy could say anything more, Heather saw Chandler sign to her, probably to tell her what was happening, and Emmy nodded in response. She leaned towards Heather and said,

“I’m really happy you’re here, Heather.” She said it in a soft tone, one that landed on her ear drums nicely, comforting her exactly the way she needed.

“Thanks,” she murmured, taking a sip of her drink. “Do you… do you mind if I crash here? Just for a couple of nights.”

Emmy smiled sweetly at her. “Of course you can.” She gave her a kiss on the cheek, luckily the one that wasn’t hurt, and picked up a slice of her pizza. She was about to take a bite, but gave it a thoughtful look, like she was remembering that anything with BBQ sauce on automatically became a favourite of hers, then held out the slice towards her. She held up her hand, ready to refuse it, but found herself taking it. It wasn’t a big piece, and it would be the only one she would have tonight. She could eat it.

And with her partners here to distract her, she was sure she’d barely notice herself doing so.

* * *

Heather was the last one awake.

Or so she thought.

In front of her, Veronica and Emmy had ended up tangling themselves up with one another, Veronica holding their girlfriend in a tight hold that Heather was sure none of them could unlock. Emmy certainly didn’t seem to mind. It was dark, especially under the pillow fort, but Emmy had turned on some dim lights that slipped into the fort so that she could see the smile adorning her face as she slept peacefully, snuggling closer to the hands cradling her.

Heather, on the other hand, slept next to Chandler, despite having been prepared to sleep without her tonight. Not that she was complaining. She wasn’t being as tightly gripped as Emmy was, arms were simply wrapped around her torso, just above her stomach. She guessed Chandler had done that on purpose, perhaps, knowing that she wouldn’t have slept peacefully with anyone touching that area.

Though it wasn’t like she was sleeping anyway. Every time she closed her eyes, she thought about what had happened earlier that day. She’d see the anger in her father’s eyes, the apathy in her mother’s, the pain she had felt on her skin. It had stopped hurting now, but she didn’t lie on her left side just to be safe. She let out a frustrated sigh, wishing she could just slip out of consciousness and stop replaying it over and over again. When she did, she heard rustling behind her, and realised that she wasn’t the only one awake. She closed her eyes quickly, but Chandler had already stirred, and was lifting herself up to try and catch her eye.

“I know you’re awake,” she whispered. Heather tried to not react, but her eye must have twitched to give her away. “You don’t look like that when you’re asleep.”

She kept her eyes closed. “What do you want?”

“I want you to talk to me.”

“We have all day tomorrow for that.”

“You know what I mean.”

Heather finally opened her eyes and looked up. Chandler gazed down at her with a tired, but concerned gaze. Heather rolled over onto her back, and she complied by climbing on top of her to straddle her by the waist.

“Please?” She tilted her head. “We opened up plenty when we lived together. I told you, we can be weak in front of one another.” She caressed the side of her cheek that wasn’t hurt. Heather leaned into it.

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s obviously not.”

Heather frowned. She wasn’t ready to tell her, but she was finding it difficult to keep it in. It felt like it was eating her up inside, perhaps that’s why she couldn’t sleep.

“My parents and I got into an argument,” she murmured. Chandler blinked at her.

“Over what?”

“Does it matter?” Heather didn’t want to say what it had been about. She knew Chandler would blame herself for not being sneaky enough, even though she was sure there was no other way they could have had her escape. It was all the fault of the neighbours not minding their own fucking business. “It just got a bit ugly, so I’m spending time away from them for now. Okay?”

Heather looked unconvinced. Her eyes flickered back to her cheek, growing worrisome, and she opened her mouth ready to ask her more questions, but her brow furrowed and she closed it again. She said nothing more, and just lay on her chest and held her close. Heather felt safe with her so close, like if anyone did try and hurt her, she wouldn’t let it happen. She rolled over so that Chandler was on her side, facing her, so she could curl up against her chest and let her hold her. Her arms wrapped around her firmly, her chin resting on her head. She sighed, closing her eyes again, and as she was about to let herself drift off,

“I love you, you know.”

She opened her eyes and looked up. Heather was looking away gingerly.

“A bit early, isn’t it?” she joked in a tired voice. Heather rolled her eyes.

“You don’t have to say it back, I know it’s incredibly early,” she said, pulling her closer. “But… just so you know. You’re loved and all that.”

An amused huff escaped Heather’s lips, though it felt dry from exhaustion. She reached up to press a kiss on her lips, which Chandler sighed into. It soothed Heather’s nerves and stopped her from fidgeting, and when she broke away, she kept her eyes closed and fell asleep knowing that somebody who loved her was keeping her safe, hidden away from the world where nobody could hurt her.

She wished it could stay like that forever, but she knew that eventually she’d have to step back outside and face the world again, stronger than she had been before.

She just had no idea how.

**Author's Note:**

> :( i'm sorry heather deserves better
> 
> https://heathersgameoftag.tumblr.com/


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